CITY of YORK LOCAL PLAN Topic Paper (TP1) Approach to Defining York's Green Belt May 2018 City of York Local Plan - Approach to Defining York’S Green Belt (TP1)
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CITY OF YORK LOCAL PLAN Topic Paper (TP1) Approach to Defining York's Green Belt May 2018 City of York Local Plan - Approach to defining York’s Green Belt (TP1) City of York Local Plan Topic Paper (TP1) Approach to defining York’s Green Belt CYC, 2018 1 City of York Local Plan - Approach to defining York’s Green Belt (TP1) Contents SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 3 SECTION 2 PLANNING CONTEXT................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT .............................................................................................................................. 4 SECTION 3 THE PRINCIPLE AND GENERAL EXTENT OF YORK’S GREEN BELT ................................................... 6 3.1 REGIONAL SPATIAL STRATEGY .......................................................................................................................................... 6 3.2 THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND THE DUTY TO COOPERATE ...................................................................................................... 8 SECTION 4 APPROACH TO DEFINING YORK’S GREEN BELT ......................................................................... 10 4.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 10 4.3 THE SPATIAL STRATEGY - DRIVERS AND SHAPERS ............................................................................................................... 11 Conserving and Enhancing York’s Historic and Natural Environment ................................................................. 13 Open Space and Encroachment ........................................................................................................................... 18 Ensuring access to sustainable modes of transport and services and checking sprawl ...................................... 20 4.4 SITE SELECTION METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................... 23 4.5 FINAL GREEN BELT BOUNDARIES .................................................................................................................................... 25 SECTION 5 SUMMARY/CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 26 ANNEX A: HISTORY OF YORK'S GREEN BELT ............................................................................................. 27 A1 ORIGINS OF YORK ’S GREEN BELT 1955-1974 .................................................................................................................. 27 A2 IMPACT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 ............................................................................................................... 28 A3 IMPACT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND 1992 .............................................................................. 29 A4 IMPACT OF THE PLANNING AND COMPULSORY PURCHASE ACT 2004 .................................................................................... 30 A5 CITY OF YORK FOURTH SET OF CHANGES (D EVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT ) LOCAL PLAN ............................................................ 31 A6 CITY OF YORK LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................... 31 ANNEX B BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 32 FIGURE 1: 'S AVED ' RSS POLICY .................................................................................................................................................... 6 FIGURE 2: 'S AVED ' RSS KEY DIAGRAM ......................................................................................................................................... 7 FIGURE 3: YORK GREEN BELT AND ADJOINING AUTHORITIES .............................................................................................................. 9 FIGURE 4 HISTORIC CHARACTER AND SETTING MAP ....................................................................................................................... 15 FIGURE 5: NATURE CONSERVATION AREAS (INCLUDING INTERNATIONALLY , NATIONALLY AND LOCALLY SIGNIFICANT NATURE CONSERVATION SITES ), ALONG WITH APPROPRIATE BUFFERS REGIONAL , DISTRICT AND LOCAL GREEN CORRIDORS , AND AREAS OF OPEN SPACE ............... 19 FIGURE 6: REVERSE ACCESS TO SERVICES MAP – IN GREEN IS HIGHLIGHTED AREAS WHICH HAVE ACCESS TO LESS THAN TWO SEPARATE SERVICES ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 FIGURE 7: COMBINED CONSTRAINTS MAP .................................................................................................................................... 22 TABLE 1: SITE SELECTION PRINCIPLES RELEVANT TO GREEN BELT PURPOSES . ...................................................................................... 24 2 City of York Local Plan - Approach to defining York’s Green Belt (TP1) Section 1 Introduction 1.1.1. York's Local Plan will formally define the boundary of the York Green Belt for the first time. This paper describes the methodology used to determine an appropriate boundary, maintaining openness and preserving the special character and setting of this historic City. 1.1.2 Green Belt policy emerged following work by town planner Patrick Abercrombie in the 1940s and was established in 1955 through government circular 42/55 which recommended that local authorities around the country consider protecting land around their towns and cities by the formal designation of clearly defined green belts. Authorities were encouraged to establish a Green Belt whenever this was desirable in order to check the further growth of a large built up area, prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another and/or preserve the special character of a town. The aims of Green Belt were expanded in subsequent circulars and planning policy guidance notes and are currently set out in the National Planning Policy Framework [SD035]. Please refer to Annex A for further details on the history of greenbelt in York. 1.1.3 Whilst York has had a draft Green Belt since the 1950’s, this has remained in draft form. The principle and general extent of York’s Green Belt is set through the saved aspects of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) (refer to section 2.2). 3 City of York Local Plan - Approach to defining York’s Green Belt (TP1) Section 2 Planning Context 2.1 National Planning Policy context 2.1.1 At the national level, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), National Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) and ministerial statements provide the policy and guidance context for the role and function of the Green Belt. 2.1.2 National policy relating to the Green Belt is set out in Section 9 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) ‘Protecting Green Belt land’. The Government attaches great importance to Green Belts. NPPF paragraph 79 reiterates that, as set out in PPG2, the fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open, and that the essential characteristics of a Green Belt are its openness and its permanence. Green Belt serves five purposes: • to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas; • to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another; • to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment; • to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns; and • to assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. 2.1.3 Local authorities with Green Belts in their area are required to establish Green Belt boundaries in their Local Plans which set the framework for Green Belt and settlement policy (NPPF paragraph 83). The boundaries should be capable of enduring beyond the Plan period. Paragraph 84 of the NPPF goes onto say that when drawing up or reviewing green belt boundaries local authorities should take account of the need to promote sustainable patterns of development and they should consider the consequences for sustainable development of channelling development towards urban areas inside the green belt boundary, towards towns and villages inset within the green belt or towards locations beyond the outer green belt boundary. 2.1.4 NPPF paragraph 85 sets out 6 criteria that local authorities should consider when defining Green Belt boundaries. These are to: • ensure consistency with the Local Plan strategy for meeting identified requirements for sustainable development; • not include land which it is unnecessary to keep permanently open; 4 City of York Local Plan - Approach to defining York’s Green Belt (TP1) • where necessary, identify in their plans areas of ‘safeguarded land’ between the urban area and the Green Belt, in order to meet longer term development needs stretching well beyond the plan period; • make clear that the safeguarded land is not allocated for development at the present time. Planning permission for the permanent development of safeguarded land should only be granted following a Local Plan review which proposes the development;